For years natural turf surfaces were used for most outdoor sports, for example, soccer, football, field hockey, cricket, rugby, etc. Natural turf surfaces are surfaces constructed with a grass grown in soil, or some other surface layer of material (e.g., sand and organic mixes, etc.), that is constructed upon a suitable foundation. A natural turf surface is generally preferred for its comfort, feel, grip, and appearance.
However, under heavy use and/or poor weather conditions, natural turf surfaces deteriorate rapidly and maintenance is costly. Intense activity on the turf destroys the grass and its root system, leaving mud and/or dirt as the playing surface. During this time, prior to re-establishment, the surface is often pockmarked, uneven, and possibly even hazardous to use.
Due to the needs of the sports programs, play usually continues until the sport's season is over, when the turf can be re-established. Further these natural turf surfaces are not usable during the re-establishment period because any use would defeat the re-establishment of the turf. The reestablishment period typically takes at least four months, or longer, under ideal weather conditions, during which the natural turf surface should not be used.
More recently, synthetic turf surfaces have been used as an alternative to natural turf surfaces. Synthetic turf surfaces generally come in two types, i.e., conventional and sand filled. Conventional synthetic turf is a dense synthetic material that takes the appearance of dense grass blades and is manually placed indoors or outdoors, usually upon an asphalt, concrete, wood, or other foundation. Sand-filled synthetic turf is a synthetic material similar to conventional synthetic turf, but with greater spacing between the blades, to accommodate a silica sand filling.
Both the conventional and sand-filled synthetic turf are placed indoors or outdoors, upon a foundation that may include an asphalt, concrete, wood or other supporting subsurface, and cushioning mats, water drainage and water irrigation.
Although synthetic turf surfaces are more durable, consistent, and easier to maintain than well-established natural turf surfaces, they are regarded as only moderately successful for sports and other uses for many reasons. The most notable of the disadvantages of the synthetic turf surfaces is the discomfort for sports use and increased number of injuries. Additionally, these surfaces are generally expensive to create and have a life expectancy averaging 8-15 years, if properly maintained. Still further, outdoor synthetic turf facilities remove large areas from the ecosystem, reducing natural processes including ground water recharge, oxygen and carbon monoxide balance, temperature modulation, and dust filtration. For these reasons, a number of synthetic turf surfaces are being convened back to the natural turf surfaces.
It is desirable, therefore, to provide an improved surface for sports and other uses, and a method of making the improved surface, wherein the surface will provide comfort and fewer injuries to the users, will be a durable surface under heavy use and in poor weather conditions, and will be less expensive to create and maintain than synthetic surfaces. Further, it is desirable to provide such a surface that will not remove large areas of the earth surface from the ecosystem.